There’s a distinct absence on the Denver radio scene and the mystery remains unsolved. Managers at Clear Channel and The Fox, Denver’s 103.5 FM, still have nothing to say about the disappearance of Michael Floorwax from the KRFX morning show.

“Out of respect for his privacy,” the company has no comment, said Greg Foster, VP-programming for Clear Channel in the Denver market.

Floorwax’s longtime on-air partner Rick Lewis has been doing the show without him since early this year, with producer Kathy Lee (who has not been given a co-host title). The raunchy Lewis & Floorwax morning antics have been a staple of the Denver airwaves since 1990. Floorwax, whose real name is Michael Steinke, was previously known in Denver as a stand-up comic before the pair took off in the ratings and became a nationally syndicated phenom. He also gained a following as lead singer for the band The Groove Hawgs. (They’ve played their usual full schedule of shows and have a couple of shows still to come.)

The Fox 103.5 KRFX logo

This from Rick Lewis: “We are still not allowed to publicly say what is going on with him because of standard privacy laws. Bottom line, when Floorwax wants everyone to know what is going on, he will surface. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.”

Regular listeners say occasional comments by Lewis since February have cited HIPAA restrictions — the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — preventing the station’s staff from discussing the situation. For now, the show is officially titled “The Fox Morning Show with Rick Lewis.”

At the start of season 8 of “Doctor Who,” there is apparently “something impossible” in the Thames. Why, it’s a time=traveling dinosaur! And the dino- has vomited a blue police box from outer space, the Tardis, of course! Here we go again. The Doctor has regenerated and, in his Twelfth’s iteration, he’s older, funnier and even more eccentric than before.

Peter Capaldi is instantly endearing, vulnerable, hilarious and prone to fainting as the Twelfth Doctor. His movements possess a floating quality. While they’ve all been eccentric, Capaldi brings a new kind of crazy to the proposition. (He’s also easily frustrated with the stupidity of those around him, having landed in London, on “the planet of the pudding brains.”)

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Steven Moffat (“Doctor Who,” “Sherlock”), the feature-length season premiere “Deep Breath,” stars Capaldi as the Doctor and Jenna Coleman as his companion Clara Oswald, and brings the return of The Paternoster Gang in Victorian England, with Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra, Catrin Stewart as Jenny Flint and Dan Starkey as Strax.

“Doctor Who: Deep Breath” premieres Saturday, Aug. 23, locally at 6 p.m. on BBC America, with a 15-minute live pre-show, followed by the series premiere of “Intruders” and then by “Doctor Who: After Who Live at 9:00 p.m. The pre- and post-shows are hosted by comedian Chris Hardwick. No spoilers, suffice to say the handoff to the next Doctor is handled with a nice final surprise.

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The reaction at competing stations is a barely contained glee. Any change to a TV morning show, where habits are notoriously entrenched, signifies an opening for the competition.

In July, among adults 25-54, the general news demo, KUSA leads weekdays at 6 a.m. with a 1.1 rating, 16 share (percent of the viewing audience). KMGH follows with a 0.7 rating, 9 share. KCNC is next with a 0.4 rating, 6 share, KDVR has a 0.4 rating, 5 share and KWGN has a 0.2 rating, 3 share.

But look at the numbers among women, a key morning news demo: for July, at 6 a.m. weekdays, among women 25-54, Channel 7 leads the pack: “7News Now” has a 1.1 rating and 15 share (percent of those watching TV), 9News trails with a 1.0 rating, 13 share. CBS4 Morning has a 0.4 rating, 6 share. Fox31’s “Good Day Colorado” has a 0.4 rating, 6 share. Channel 2’s “Daybreak” has a 0.1 rating, 2 share.

7News cites gains, particularly among women viewers, and Fox31 is quick to note the changes well beyond the departure of Dyer. “Yes, morning habits are hard to break, but we believe the audience is actively sampling morning newscasts right now and likely has been for quite a while,” said KDVR’s Ed Kosowski.

On Channel 9, Preheim, previously weekend evening anchor and a 15-year veteran of 9News, and Coniglio, previously weekend meteorologist and a 10-year veteran of 9News (with Channel 4 and Channel 7 in his past), are a familiar but different flavor of breakfast TV. The ratings suggest they have their work cut out, particularly among female viewers. Among women 25-54, the key morning news demo, 9News did a 2.0/26 share in the 6 a.m. hour in July 2013, compared to a 1 rating, 13 share this July.

The new appointments represent “a good fit,” according to 9News boss Patti Dennis. “Since Kyle Dyer made her decision and announced some change of duties we have been looking for the right person to complement the morning team. As we auditioned internal and external candidates we realized that we had the potential for a very good fit by moving the team of Cheryl and Marty from weekends to weekday mornings.”

Becky Ditchfield (currently on maternity leave), Danielle Grant and Belen De Leon are “an integral part of our team,” Dennis said, working both on-air and for the 9News Now 24/7 weather channel. Additionally, “we are anxiously awaiting Becky’s return the beginning of October.”

Police in riot gear prepare to take up positions Saturday, Aug, 16, 2014, as people protest the police shooting death of Michael Brown a week ago in Ferguson, Mo. Despite heavy rainfall and lightning, hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday night at a busy thoroughfare that has been the site of previous clashes with police. Dozens of officers, a much more visible presence than the night before, stood watch — including some with shields. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) (Charlie Riedel/AP)

The media are inevitably a factor in the ongoing and recently flaring activity in Ferguson, Mo., as the week-long protests of a police officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old African-American man, Michael Brown, continues. Once again, the effect of the cameras’ presence has to be part of the story.

Police in riot gear took to the streets, tear gas canisters were fired, gunshots were heard in parts of the city and the media rightly reported on the media: an MSNBC commentator described the way video cameras energized protesters in Ferguson Sunday night as the clash between police and protesters escalated. It’s been clear since long before cellphone cameras were omnipresent: When the lights go on, the crowd is “emboldened.”

On CNN, media analyst Brian Stelter noted two, then three reporters tweeted their (brief) arrests in real time. The media’s ability to embarrass law enforcement authorities in cases of excessive force was apparent. “Heavy handed militarized tactics” were on display, and a “much more aggressive posture” by police was reported on CNN. Police threatened members of the media, live on TV, Sunday night.

Meanwhile, as CNN and MSNBC went wall-to-wall with live coverage from Ferguson, Fox News did not, sticking with regularly scheduled programming.

Earlier this weekend, the ACLU in Missouri met with authorities to clarify the First Amendment right of anyone and everyone to film the police, as long as those filming aren’t obstructive. Lots of footage, much of it from cellphones, has been recorded, including some questionable acts of police over-reaching. One notable resource: Mustafa Hussein, a student who works at a local all-volunteer music station, Argus Radio, who was interviewed on MSNBC. Like many others, he was still choking from tear gas.

The Denver Broncos and Fox31 on Friday will announce a new partnership for the John Fox coach’s show beginning Sept. 5. “Fox on Fox” will be the promotion-friendly handle.

“We had discussions around it,” said KMGH General Manager Byron Grandy, whose station has had “The John Fox Show” since 2012. “Ultimately, after discussions with the Broncos, I think they found another home for it.”

Fox31 is expected to air the half-hour at 9:30 p.m. Fridays, with a repeat at 9:30 a.m. Sundays leading into the game during football season. (Previously, KMGH had scheduled the show for Saturday evenings.) On KDVR, Fox31 sports director Nick Griffith will host.

A home cook from Denver will go up against celeb chef Duff Goldman on the Aug. 12 edition of NBC’s “Food Fighters.” Nick Evans, a Denver blogger and home chef, goes spatula to spatula with Goldman (“Ace of Cakes” pastry chef) on an eggs Benedict challenge with $100,000 at stake. The episode airs Tuesday at 7 p.m. on KUSA.

“It’s hard to tell when you’re watching but it’s really fast-paced,” Evans said. Five signature dishes are cooked and filmed in a row with no down time. The episode included injuries and general craziness. Of course he can’t say how he fared in the end but, “at least I made all my dishes.”

As he writes on his website, Macheesmo or “Cooking with Confidence,” Evans has no formal training and doesn’t aspire to be a pro chef, but simply loves cooking as a hobby. He doesn’t use fancy ingredients and doesn’t make “frou-frou” dishes. “It doesn’t always have to be grand.” For instance, his favorites (on the TV show) include mashed potato pizza, a hold-over from his Yale days, and super-spicy chicken wings with habanero peppers and apricot sauce.

The best part of “Food Fighters,” he says, is it’s not reality TV so much as a game show.

From “The Jazz Singer” to “The Way We Were,” TCM will spend Tuesdays in September examining “The Jewish Experience in Film.” The survey includes some 20 films, several of which have never been on the network. The movies were curated by Eric Goldman, an expert on Yiddish, Israeli and Jewish film, adjunct professor at Yeshiva University and author of “The American Jewish Story Through Cinema.”

So You Think You Can Dance. The Top 14 perform a routine choreographed by Stacey Tookey. Photo provided by Fox.

“SYTYCD” is on the move. “So You Think You Can Dance,” Fox’s Emmy-winning dance competition series, set its summer tour schedule including three Colorado dates. Tickets go on sale Aug. 15 for Broomfield and Colorado Springs, Aug. 16 for Grand Junction.

The season 11 top-10 finalists will perform in more than 70 cities in the U.S. and Canada.
The local venues and dates:

NIXON BY NIXON: IN HIS OWN WORDS: Richard Nixon. photo: courtesy of HBO

Forty years later, Richard M. Nixon still has the power to shock: “Nixon By Nixon: In His Own Words,” a documentary premiering on HBO Monday, Aug. 4, will leave you alternately gasping aloud, chuckling and groaning.

Revealing, even after all the books, films and profiles of the former president, “Nixon By Nixon” is an unfiltered effort, directed by Peter Kunhardt, who previously won an Emmy for “Teddy: In His Own Words.” No parody can come close to relaying the angry, bitter, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic chatter, captured on tape.

Kunhardt puts text of the dialog onscreen, so there’s no mistaking Nixon’s comments about Daniel Ellsberg at the start of the Pentagon Papers affair (“the Jews are born spies,” “most Jews are disloyal”); Nixon’s instructions to underlings (“I don’t give a shit about the law”); Nixon’s talk of “wetbacks,” “”little Negro bastards” and more. Plans to harass media people, notably Daniel Schorr, Dan Rather and others are discussed. “Screw the New York Times, screw the Washington Post,” he rants. Prejudices beam through loud and clear, along with the vile language. “Sure Aristotle was a homo…”

By juxtaposing the scheming on the tapes with the public pronouncements, Kurhardt reveals the lies that were a key part of the Administration’s policy.

You may have read the transcripts over the years, but to hear the dialog, now on the eve of the 40th anniversary of his Aug. 9, 1974 resignation, is newly eye-opening.

For viewers following coverage of the ongoing war in the Middle East, a special one-hour report by Al Jazeera America, “Gaza: Witness to War” may add perspective. AJAM’s coverage has been even-handed, with reports from both sides as well as interviews with members of the international community. As the announced 72-hour cease-fire failed within two hours Friday, the network scrambled to update its report.

The aim is to introduce viewers “to the Gazans cut off and caught in the crossfire. It will take a closer look at Hamas, its weapons and its tunnels that lead into Israel. And it will show how even in a warzone, there’s an extraordinary desire and ability to preserve everyday life.”

Paul Beban, Denver-based correspondent for Al Jazeera America, also formerly ABC News, will report on Israel’s efforts to destroy the tunnels below Gaza. Schifrin, who has reported from both sides since the violence began, covers the thousands of civilians affected by the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. AJAM Jonathan Betz will report on Hamas and its history.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.